1. Field of the Invention
This invention is a device and method for presenting complex acoustic information, such as music, as visual or tactile information. The acoustic information is processed by a human-like auditory transformation simulating the processing of acoustic information by a human auditory system. The transformed signal is then applied to a tactile or visual presentation. The audience perception of the invention is visual through light, color, animation of an image or object, or touch by movement of an object, providing a synchronicity with the perception of the sound.
2. Description of Related Art
Devices that enhance the human experience of listening to music by expanding the senses used during the experience are popular. Live concerts generally feature motion from the movement of the musicians or an orchestra conductor to the gyrations of a rock band the motion provides an enhancement of the listening experience. The popularity of music video on television, and the popularity of dance are further examples of this combining of listening and motion or visual presentation.
Devices for transforming acoustic information into visual or motion output information are known in the art. In the simplest form these devices simply have a built-in musical tune and a corresponding lighting or color presentation. Examples are U.S. Pat. No. 4,265,159 (Liebman et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 5,461,188 (Drago et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 5,111,113 (Chu) and U.S. Pat. No. 6,604,880 (Huang et al.). A more complex variation is devices that respond to the presence or absence of sound. Examples are U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,216,454 (Terry), 4,358,754 (Young et al.), 5,121,435 (Chen). Even more complex, is an example that responds to the intensity of the sound field as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,440,059 (Hunter).
The circuitry for devices with multiple channels of output use varying forms of electronic circuits to capture the acoustical signal, convert it to an electronic signal, and then divide that signal into non-overlapping frequency bands and drive the presentation device by the signal in a desired frequency band or in multiple bands. Examples of such devices providing a multi-channel light signal in response to the music are in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,222,574 (Silvestri, Jr.), 4,000,679 (Norman) 4,928,568 (Snavely), 5,402,702 (Hata) and 5,501,131 (Hata). Another variation is to take two channels of sound, as is found in stereophonic music signals, and compare the two channels to produce a visual presentation, as taught in U.S. Pat. No. 5,896,457 (Tyrrel). All of these devices work by taking a measurable feature of the sound and using it to provide a presentation of the measurable feature.
Human perception of sound waves (also called sounds in this application) is subjective and is not only a physiological question of features of the ear, but also a psychological issue. For example, there are masking effects that determine if a sound is perceived. A normally audible sound can be masked by another sound. A loud sound will mask a soft sound so that the soft sound is inaudible in the presence of the louder sound. If the sounds are close in frequency the soft sound is more easily masked than if they are far apart in frequency. A soft sound emitted soon after the end of a loud sound is masked by the loud sound, and even the soft sound received just before a loud sound can be masked. Sounds also have many different qualities that the human auditory system can perceive such as tempo, rhythms, intensity variation from highs to lows, and rests of silence.
A visual or tactile presentation that is not representative of the perceived sound does not enhance the audio experience. It instead provides a distraction to the audio experience. On the other hand, if the presentation enhances the audio by responding as the audio is perceived, it enhances the audio experience enabling the audience to visually or tactilly experience the tempo, rhythms, intensity variation from highs to lows, and silences of the audio, providing a synchronicity that enriches the combined experience more than either experience individually.
In order to provide a presentation which is representative of the perceived sound, it is necessary to model what humans actually hear. The presentation must represent how sounds are received and mapped into thoughts in the brain, rather than a mere representation of a measurable feature of the sound wave. The presentation also must be capable of displaying a wide range of values representing the wide range of perceptions of sound that human hearing is capable of. What is needed is a presentation that overcomes the limitations of the prior art by seemingly displaying responses to sounds as they occur and reflecting the richness of perceptible components of the sounds such as tempo, rhythms, intensity variation from highs to lows, and silences of the audio, providing a synchronicity with these characteristics.